An initiative to connect the Council Bluffs community to the Internet was launched Thursday.

The effort is being made possible with the help of Google, the Iowa West Foundation and the Charles E. Lakin Family Foundation. When completed, the entire community will be able to access Blink, a Wi-Fi network accessible across the entire city.

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“When completed, Blink will be the largest open public Wi-Fi network in the United States,” Council Bluffs Mayor Matt Walsh said.

The Wi-Fi is already on in the area north of Broadway Street between 14th and 23rd streets.

It will take about five years to fully complete the project.

Staff and students at Council Bluff Community Schools agree that the new Internet connection is a game changer.

“For kids that don't have Wi-Fi at home, it would help a lot,” student Leteah Willie said.

Students in third grade through 12th grade already have their own Google Chromebooks.

“They were predominantly using them at school or they were being left at school and some of our kids were limited and not getting their assignments done,” Wilson Middle School Principal Kim Kazmierczak said. “Their classroom is the world now ... they can go anywhere.”

Once students go home, some are cut off from the Internet.

“Learning is not an 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. type of thing anymore,” Google Operations Manager Michael Wolf said. “The kids are up and they're looking for different information, whether it's news or different articles … or how to work a math problem. We have kids that are staying at the schools until 9 or 10 p.m. working on homework because they don't have access at home.”